PHOTOGRAPH [c]

[TOSHIKO YUZURU]

look at this photograph, everytime
i do, it makes me laugh. ♥

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Toshiko made her way up the thin pathway to arrive at the doorway that led into the Ramsey household. Just as every other important family's house did, the size of the building made her find herself staring. Jeesh, how much she'd kill to live in such a large, lively house. She sighed and slid her phone into her pocket before impolitely, yet so confidently allowing herself in. You could say it caught the servants off gaurd when she so suddenly opened the door, but she didn't mind it. She'd spoken to her friend, who also occupied the house, about coming over to help him bake cupcakes a bit earlier. And surely a few of the servants must have recognized her from other times she'd come over for a visit. Azure and her sure had some history.

She stepped into the house, closing the door behind her and immediately heading for the kitchen. "Azure!" she called out before she arrived in the room where she spotted her friend standing at a counter. She smirked over at him and bounced over to his side. "Are you ready for the most amazing baking experience?" she exclaimed. Then she rose a finger to press it against her chin. "Perhaps not as amazing as our past attempts~.. But surely we'll make it unique, eh?" She snickered as she lowered her arm to place her elbow on the counter's surface and rested her chin on her palm.

She glanced around at the surrounding kitchen, which was easily so much better than her own, then returned her gaze to Azure once more and straightened up again. "I'm still not sure whether we'll be able to eat these cupcakes or have to put them on display.." she muttered. As determined as she was, she was no master in the kitchen or at cooking. Considering their more recent experiences with cooking together, Toshiko wasn't expecting any decent cupcake batch. But they could still try, right? And if all went well enough, they could end up taking a pretty satisfying first bite.

Despite her more low expectations, she knew well enough that if she did let Azure do the baking on his own, she'd end up begging for more no matter what. She always had loved his cooking~, and he knew it. Sometimes she thought he'd become too confident about it, since she was always mentioning how she couldn't resist a meal from him, and in return he'd bring it up when he had the chance. Even if this was the case, Toshiko would be able to ruin any possible delicacies in a heartbeat if she wasn't cautious enough.

[/size] [/font]

if i could relive those days, i know
the one thing that would never change...

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TAGS;; Azure // closed.
WORDS;; 439
NOTES;; n/a
LYRICS;; Photograph by Nickelback[/blockquote]

[AZURE RAMSEY]

AND I JUST NEED A LITTLE TIME.
cause i'm overcommitting myself. i guess this is growing up.
i'm sleeping so little these days. i guess this is growing up.

❚ words: 1105 ❚ artist: forever the sickest kids ❚ tags: toshi

THE TASTE OF VANILLA EXTRACT tingled against the buds of his tongue as he removed his thin finger from his lips, placing it underneath a pouring stream of warm water to rinse the accumulation of flour, sugar, and other ingredients of which had clung onto his flesh. Already, one batch, consisting of squared clumps of cookie dough, had been completed, prepared to be squeezed into the stainless steel oven awaiting to be fed. Wiping his hands onto a rag, Azure inserted the platter into the mouth of the heated contraption before clicking the shutter close; ten minutes, he mentally noted, glancing at the built-in clock of the machinery as he begun swiping extra materials from cabinets suspended above and onto a marbled counter; he didn't want a certain visitor to go on scrambling the kitchen area for utensils—had he permitted for such an even to occur, he was positive enough the organized section would have been blown over inside and out, a scene he did not want to be held responsible for.

Unlike the Wilson mansion, whose most intriguing aspect were its high-rise ceilings, and was comparable to even that of a luxurious hotel, the Ramsey manor was spacious and resembled a resort—large windows framed much of the exterior, providing a welcomed glance of the ocean line; thin curtains often flowed along a chilled breeze brought from an open door combined with the scent of beach pleasure; and the servants were far more easygoing than that of the Wilson's—while the aero clan's maids and butlers were brought to be flawless in everything they did, their housekeepers were much more obliged to spark a friendly conversation. Ironic, how contrasting the two tribes were—one lived on the snow-tipped mountains, and the other inhabited the ground where warmer climates sided.

' Buzz ', a vibration jingled from behind, capturing the navy-mopped youth's reflexive attention as transparent blue jewels hovered over the brightly lit screen of a phone—on it, a message from a dear companion declared her walking distance to the Ramsey territory: ten seconds. He pressed his spine against the island of the kitchen, settling the whisk he had at hand onto the table top, mentally challenging the accuracy of his contact's calculated estimation of her supposed arrival time. Ten, he planted his gaze onto his names; nine, he flicked his attention toward the ticking clock propped on a wall; eight, he blinked, faintly absorbing the hushed whispers of servants—occasionally, in the midst of his cooking fiesta, two or three maids would peer inquisitively at him, evidence of curiosity written on their young features. It was probably weird for a male to cook, much less for one of ' royal ' blood. Rarely was there any one house-keeper (save for a few experienced ones that had been with the clan for decades) that had surpassed the age of thirty—and though Azure hadn't been involved in the interview of any applicants for the job, he had an idea that one of the requirements to work for the Ramsey family was to be fairly good-looking. Uncle Eli did like women, after all—you know—eye-candy.

Seven seconds, then six, followed by five. Every so once in a while, those who dwelled the corridors of the massive property would shoot questions at the young heir, mostly prying the topic of his friends, or rather, the " little aqua girl who comes often " and the " gothic doll with the bird ". Never did the lad understand why his kin yearned to learn about whom he befriended, but he figured they, like most of the Ramsey council, wanted him to stick with well-adjusted folks without any repulsive reputation of which would probably stain his. Toshiko had been an important aspect of his life along with Kaminari, yet a handful of Azure's relatives bothered to point out that such a ' less advanced ' water-user would lower his skills, in other words, bring him down. He didn't care, of course—he ignored them; what right did they have to tell him who he had to be seen around with? Toshiko was perfectly fine the way she was; if she had been anyone but herself, she wouldn't have been the same person he came to grow fond of.

Among the comrades he had encountered during his youth, she and Kaminari had treated him normally—it was what he had always wanted out of those who talked to him as opposed to those who faked their way into his childhood to gain leverage over the Ramsey name. 'Normal' and free were the two adjectives Azure had desired to possess; the closest he had ever came to feeling ordinary was only whenever he was near his two female companions—and that would probably be the best gift he had ever received. And so, Father Time continued with his ticks and tocks, naturally never stopping, naturally never ending—three, two, one. "Azure!" Right on the dot, just as dictated. "M-Miss Yuzuru?" A few stunned voices rose into the air, unaware of the unprecedented appearance of the familiar guest, as uniformed bodies flung to and fro to remove cleaning equipments of which had potentially blocked the path way into the kitchen.

The younger cohort skipped to his side, beaming sentences together that could only add up to ' baking ' and ' disaster '. True, anything that had involved cooking and the female aquakinetic commonly landed in the arena of havoc, but for every cooking obstacle thrown, it got somewhat better than the last—a reason why Azure didn't mind inviting the petite goddess of disaster to come into a room barfed with hundreds of deadly possibilities; that is, knives, flames, gas, and all the could-be-harmful items were gathered—all in one wretched place. "Well, if the cupcakes don't turn out as planned, we could let it sit out and harden,"

[/b][/color]—and aim them at Zephyr Wilson's head—"We'll find use for it... as long as you don't give any to Almond."[/b][/color] At a distance, a ' meow ' was heard, and briefly, the heir glanced at a fluffy pom-pom marching over coaches and tables, summoning more work for the servants to polish after with its shedding white tufts littering the furniture ,"It got sick last time."[/b][/color]

"Oh, and the recipe should be next to the flour—so you can follow that while I crack the eggs."[/b][/color] Nodding his head toward a small sheet with written directions, he busied his fingers with a circular object, tapping it against a glass bowl; ' crack ', the shell split, pouring its golden orb and excess into the container ,"Don't forget to keep Kaminari in mind, okay? ... She's the one we'll be sending these cupcakes to, eventually."[/color]
[/size][/justify][/blockquote]❚ notes: -flops dead-.[/blockquote]

[TOSHIKO YUZURU]

look at this photograph, everytime
i do, it makes me laugh. ♥

[/color][/size][/font][/center]

Toshiko glanced to her side as the sound of the feline had briefly interrupted their conversation, and coincidentially at the mention of its own name. Ah... Instantly, that had reminded her of yet another past result they'd come up with. She'd expected that such an animal with picky sences of its own would realize the treat wasn't exactly a treat, nor to be devoured in such a surprising amount of time. She snickered a bit and looked back at Azure as he continued. "It got sick last time." Just as they'd assumed it would. "Oh, and the recipe should be next to the flour—so you can follow that while I crack the eggs." Toshiko nodded and trotted off to retrieve the recipe he'd directed her to.

She seemed to expect the anxiety that some of the servants had been feeling as they realized she'd been invited to assist Azure in the making of the snacks. Assumably, they'd witnissed any of the other times she'd tried. And her being quite a known failure at her own element, which anyone would expect to come so naturally, they probably thought she'd have been inexperienced at more things than one could imagine. But she couldn't help but disagree—they'd only seen her less developed skills, without taking any consideration into her actually having a successful ability. It was so often she was doubted by others. She acted as if it were to never shake her, pulling off such determination and stubborness. Though only few people knew that the same distrust in her confidence she'd been given had only been a cause to her attitude.

Those few that were knowledgable of this, those few who'd been practically the only ones who'd ever decided to encourage her, whether or not they had low expectations. As much as their sensativity towards her with the topic had irritated her, she'd always taken notice to those particular people. She'd always felt unimportant.. rather not needed. It may come off as overdramatic, but with a past like hers.. trust and encouragement mean more to her than she'll show.

Toshiko halted beside the area where the recipe had been located according to Azure's guidance. Before deciding to start helping, she reached up with both arms to adjust her hairstyle to lessen the possibility of getting hair into the mixure. She removed the two white ribbons that tied around a couple portions of her hair in a unique fasion. Her darker blue colored hair bounced around before she successfully wrapped one of the ribbons around the bunch of hair to form a ponytail-typed style. When she spotted the piece of paper that contained the instructions, she reached forward to pick it up between the fingers of one hand. Her eyes immediately began to read through it, focusing more on the words that came after those that read "crack eggs into large bowl".

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Toshiko lowered the sheet of paper to glanced around at the surrounding apparatus that was spread out on the counter. As he was waiting for her to arrive, her friend must have prepared materials for her to use rather than allowing her to scavenge through the entire kitchen. She was pretty predictable, wasn't she? She set down the paper to reach forward to pull closer a bowl that would hold the mixture she were to put together with the ingredients. She reached out again to retrieve them, first the flour and held it with both hands as she poured a decent amount of the contaniments into the bowl. She did so with the rest of the inredients, looking at her result each time to check it over.

Add shortening, milk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed.

And so, Toshiko did so, being ever so careful as to what she put in, how much, and where it landed. She'd been extra cautious that time as opposed to her normally carefree efforts. Aside from the excuse that she would rather not give work to the servants if she had messed up and made a disaster of the kitchen again, along with give them proof of their assumed opinions on her displayed failures. But she actually had been rather hungry and looking forward to the sweet taste of a cupcake or two~. But another possible explosion could kill her excitement. Might even be able to kill her. And it was a pain trying to rid the room of all the mess they would've made. Why not put in the effort rather than putting yourself at risk of all that?

She pulled a whisk towards her from a further corner of the counter and placed the wiry end into the bowl and began to mix around the ingredients with the tool. She blinked as she kept adjusting her speed every few seconds. Ehh.. What would they consider "medium speed"? she wondered awkwardly. She glanced around her shoulder, about to consider asking. She wasn't all that much of a genius when it came to this, which also showed in the way she decided to go on without assistance. She returned her gaze to the bowl held in her left arm and the whisk twirling repeatedy held in the other. She thought to herself, determining the speed she were to be using. Though, did it really matter? Clearly it did to the stubborn girl, who was certainly fixed on putting in the most possible effort she could.

So if thisss would be "fast", she spoke in her head, and her stirring speed increased incredibly to demonstrate in her own mind what she were to compare this 'medium' speed to. Her wrist spun the tool around so rapidly, some of the mixture spilt from one side, making her shove the bowl in direction the spilt liquid had flew. Though all this did was cause more to be flung in several other directions. She kept moving from side to side, until she finally gave up and realized she'd done nothing but make it worse. She stood still, and began glancing around at the mess that'd fallen onto the floor beside her feet. She flinched. This wouldn't have been any proof at all towards those who were reluctant of her helping out in the kitchen. Sighing, she set the bowl safely down onto the counter's surface and continued stirring much, much more slowly.

[/size] [/font]

if i could relive those days, i know
the one thing that would never change...

[/size][/center]
TAGS;; Azure // closed.
WORDS;; 1064
NOTES;; yes, toshiko, you're golden. B| b
LYRICS;; Photograph by Nickelback[/blockquote]

[AZURE RAMSEY]

AND I JUST NEED A LITTLE TIME.
cause i'm overcommitting myself. i guess this is growing up.
i'm sleeping so little these days. i guess this is growing up.

❚ words: 1112 ❚ artist: forever the sickest kids ❚ tags: toshi

QUIET—SIMPLY TOO QUIET to be true—almost out of place, even, for a guest of Toshiko's caliber to have not done anything messy-worthy. Had the blue-eyed male expected for the following minutes to be serene and without any notions of ' splats ' or screams of failure, he wouldn't have forced himself to glance back at Toshiko every five seconds, he wouldn't have had to accidentally crack an egg against the counter instead of the edged glass of a bowl. Damn. He swept a rag from a hook and wiped the mess from existence. Doubting the younger aquakinetic's capabilities in gourmet had never meant he didn't trust her, it had never meant he was anticipating for her to make a mistake; he bared no intention in laughing at her failures. Never did—albeit it must have appeared that way with his reluctance for her to enter any sort of kitchen. Sure, the lady had been eighteen, fully capable of fending for herself and, perhaps, able of taking responsibilities to her own accord, but Azure certainly didn't want her to burn herself or slice her fingers for something that may seem minor as dicing carrots or punching in a wrong temperature to heat pastries in. A small problem usually ended up large whenever Toshiko was included.

Maybe the nineteen year-old should have cared less, he should have had more faith in his companion—but was that even possible? Uncle Eli certainly didn't baby him, and he appreciated that. Had his female cohort been someone other than a childhood acquaintance, he wouldn't have given much of a damn on injury as much as he did to the well-being of the Ramsey household. Wounds eventually heal. Destruction of property didn't and demanded a cough of a heavy, green wallet. Money mysteriously streamed into the Ramsey bank account—he had never really been sure on how that had been possible when his uncle hadn't done much to earn any amount of steady income, but he assumed people had paid much of the nobles to make meager appearances in stores to popularize products, to write speeches and acknowledge their supposed company; there were many plots of properties owned by the clan, much of it earning rent from those who built upon it; and there were plenty of other relatives, that of doctors and specialized careers, of whom had donated a decent percentage of pay, much to strengthen the lineage and fund for the head's position.

Wrapping his thin fingers around the smooth handle of a whisk, Azure began beating the exposed lumps of yolk, stirring it into a thick slime of yellow. An aroma of warming sweets tickled the air, briefly forewarning the male of the soon-to-be-ready cookies that had been in the process of perfection prior to the guest's arrival. If he wanted to have at least one set of edible pastries, he had to do so before a potential mayhem struck, whether it had been fire, a barfing explosion of some weird-crap concoction—yeah, every possible event imaginable had happened with the Yuzuru girl, and Uncle Eli had never cease to find some kind of twisted amusement in it as well as some harsh joke to torment her with. Cooking wasn't exactly an effortless chore, it required instruction, but it was definitely not a too difficult of a topic made for rocket scientists. Toshiko wasn't a hopeless deadbeat, just not coordinated—he supposed he could have given her the benefit of a doubt and leave her chores up to her skills. If she followed the written guide, there shouldn't have been a problem; if she was able to read, it would have been fine... wouldn't it?

Too early spoken, too early of a thought, and the youth's ears caught accent of a ' splitter-splat '; what the feces, he mused in slight confusion, dropping his gray hues to the tiled floor—on it, expanding drops of white became apparent; she was spilling the milky texture. As he twisted around to face the girl, bowl of golden liquid in possession, he cracked a small smile, one that practically skepticized with a ' what the hell are you doing? ' Yep, not hopeless, just not coordinated. "It might be easier if you made use of that machine,"

[/b][/color] He waved a gesture toward the electronic mixer which had been near a plug, deprived of usage. The petite woman's lacking skills in the kitchen department provoked a certain curiosity in him—how did she manage to feed herself?—did she hop onto other establishments, munching off of other people, other families?—or did she purchase simple cup noodles and survive off of that..?

Years of friendship couldn't be broken that easily. Years with companions attached to the hip often brought distinct details, which weren't as graspable upon first impression, to light—there were some things he knew about Yuzuru that other people wouldn't have ever imagined, and there were some things the girl was aware of in his life that others wouldn't fathom to believe. Yet, he had his secrets, she had her secrets. Many factors divided them in more ways than one—he had lived a sheltered life, he had parents [albeit their presence was largely invisible], he had a plenitude of blessings with status, wealth, and family; he had things given to him from the start, things that people normally had to strive for. " Lucky ", people called him, and sure, he agreed, but there were several components he could do without. Had he been average, would he have understood the Yuzuru more?—would he have understood others more? Maybe, maybe not. He had to stop thinking; it became a distraction.

Unaware of the amount of spillage the young girl had conducted, Azure swirled to the side, the heel of his shoe coincidentally meeting with a thick ivory mixture and shooting forward as he fell back—"Uh...!"[/color]—releasing the glass bowl from his grip. Golden contents jumped out of the transparent container, and reflexively, he shot an index finger directly at it, attempting to suspend the ooze in the air as his shoulder slammed against the tile. The glass holder flipped and spiraled downwards, prompting the youth to force away from the liquid manipulation to save the expensive bowl, hands stretched outwards to accept the fallen object into his palms—the result? Splat. Yellow-tinted slime dripped from the marble counters, creeping slowly an expanding ' lake ' upon the pavement. Eyes fixed onto the ceiling as his spine hugged the cold floor, soft navy tufts unkempt from its usual place. ' Beep ', ' beep '. "Toshiko,"[/b][/color] groaned the laying lad, rolling to his side to help relieve the soreness aching upon his bones; that was going to bruise ,"Mind getting the cookies in the oven?"[/b][/color]
[/size][/justify][/blockquote]❚ notes: oh, yeah, they're some "team", alright. <<;
hurhur, and it's cool. i read recipe instructions, too. /egged[/blockquote]

[TOSHIKO YUZURU]

look at this photograph, everytime
i do, it makes me laugh. ♥

[/color][/size][/font][/center]

Round and round and round.. Her hand twirled the instrument into continuous circles in the mixture as her bored stare followed its motion. It left a small trail that faded a second later as it was covered by the liquid. Her task became boring in an instant, and at the same time complicated in a way. As much as she tried to successfully make a dish, things like spilling and explosions would always occur. Luckily explosions weren't particularly in store for them.. But rather unfortunately, there was a countless amount of other possibilities that could just as well happen.

Her lazy position with her chin sitting in the palm of her hand stayed, even after Azure's suggestion to use the machine. "I'm sure it'll taste even better knowing I stirred it all by myself~," she mumbled sarcastically, with a tone that probably wouldn't have reached him where he stood a distance behind her, and she continued stirring lazily. Round and round and round.. The steady pace at which the whisk had been made spin proceeded until Toshiko heard commotion behind her:

"Uh..!".. Bump.. Splat!..

She froze, lifting her head and slowly turning to find out whatever the hell had caused such movement. But before her she could spot the sight behind her,.. Beep, Beep. The timer on the stone went off, making Toshiko jump in surprise and turn to face it. "Gah!... oh." A moment of slight relief washed over her, only to be wasted when she turned her head again at the sound of Azure's voice. It sounded like it was coming from...

"Toshiko... Mind getting the cookies out of the oven?"

"Ehh?" It had been his voice, but his position, where he lay on the floor of the kitchen threw her off. "A-Azure!" she shouted, though there had been a slight blush that ran across her face, as if to show the slight embarrassment she'd felt. She almost immediately knew that her mess had caused him to slip, throwing him down to the tiled floor where he was now. "Wh-what're you..!" She blinked, the sight in the corners of her eyes drawing her gaze to stare at the ooze around him. She recognized some of the splatters being of her own fault, from her own bowl. But there was much more that covered portions of the kitchen counter with a golden liquid.. Egg yoke. He must have been holding a bowlful, and losing his balance probably brought him to spilling it everywhere.

She lowered her eyes back to Azure, a guilty, apologetic gleam in her blue irises and she quickly bent over and grabbed his wrist in both hands. She pulled upwards, attempting to help him return to his feet. She rose him up a foot or two, but when she took a supporting step backwards, her foot landing in a puddle of yoke could have been the worst, yet most expected thing that could happen.

"Ayyee!.." She released her grip to try and catch her balance once her foot sprung forward, making Azure's back land roughly onto the tile again. Toshiko brought her arms back to catch the counter behind her with her hands, only to slam her palm onto the rim of her own mixture-containing bowl, causing it to spring upwards and send the contaminants forward onto the floor and edge of the counter. "Err..!" She scrambled around a bit before losing her footing once again in the slippery texture that surrounded them. She was flung forward and landed on her hands and knees, then sat there staring ahead with a look of humiliation on her face.

Lucky for them, that's when the chaos died down to be replaced with an awkward silence, where Toshiko glanced around in shock. All my fault... again. Nice going, Toshi. She cautiously rose to her feet, her bangs falling over her face. "S-...." she muttered, not entirely completing her apology. She instead turned to slowly approach the oven and retrieve the cookies. If only she did that before getting ahead of herself and reaching out. She successfully set the tray on the counter's surface, with a hint of accomplishment and relief building up. Though it was quickly defeated as she scolded herself for being so prideful over the simple task.

Of all her attempts, she could only do that one thing right in the kitchen. So far. Whether or not she would at all improve or succeed in any other given task coming up that visit, she still felt like a burden. But could she dare show it? Isn't that like revealing a weakness? And at this thought, her stubbornness kicked in and she refused to show any doubt or shame as long as she was facing another being. That had always been her idea, hadn't it? She took a deep breath before spinning around with a completely different expression on her face than what she'd only felt a moment ago. She glared down at Azure with her hands planted on her hips. "Come on, get up. You're not crippled." she spat harshly.

This had always been her way of dealing with things. When she'd displayed a clumsy act that apparently showed "weakness", a feeling she'd disliked so much, she'd get defensive and fierce. She'd had such a method ever since a particular time during her childhood. Had it not been for that moment in her history, she would be much more polite and delicate as opposed to how she became today.

Someone as close to her as Azure had been and someone who she would have known just as long ought to be used to this side of her. The non beneficial part of this, however, would be she'd target them more than any other. It was mostly this way with her and Azure. He was like her punching bag.. The individual who she would mess around with a lot, but at the same time appreciate greatly. Who knew if he was aware of it, considering the way she treats him. Who knew if she was aware of it, and if she was, what she interpreted of it. Regardless, her heart worked in many ways. She can barely figure herself out.

[/size] [/font]

if i could relive those days, i know
the one thing that would never change...

[/size][/center]
TAGS;; Azure // closed.
WORDS;; 1032
NOTES;; they're... they're naturals. |D
LYRICS;; Photograph by Nickelback[/blockquote]